Thaindian News

New Delhi, Sep 27 (IANS) India’s state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) has retained its 38th ranking among the top 100 global aerospace companies, with Boeing leapfrogging European defence behemoth EADS to reclaim its position as the biggest aerospace manufacturer, says a new survey.

HAL retained the spot in 2009 that it had occupied the previous year, says the survey, ‘Top 100 special report - Year of living Dangerously’, by PricewaterhouseCoopers in association with Flight International magazine.

HAL has also maintained its position among the top five aerospace manufacturing companies in terms of profit margin which is at a healthy 23 percent. The local currency sales growth for HAL is 10 percent with total sales revenue for 2009 at $2.34 billion (Rs.106 billion), the survey says.

India, along with China, the US, Russia and Mexico were among the top five recipients of foreign direct investment in the aerospace and defence industry.

Commenting on the survey, Dhiraj Mathur, India leader for aerospace and defence at PricewaterhouseCoopers, said: “The industry needs to focus on developing economies such as India which are likely to provide growth along with cost optimisation opportunities in IT/ITeS services, R&D and manufacturing notwithstanding initial regulatory challenges.”

“Globalisation will be the future mantra for success in this industry and the companies which adapt and customise their offering to the unique needs of the global customer will achieve success,” he added.

The survey is based on company returns for the previous financial year. It shows a 17.3 percent decrease in collective profits following five years of growth. Sales show a moderate growth of 0.6 percent on the previous year, but this is also a much smaller rate compared to 7.1 percent in 2008 and 13 percent in 2007.

Overall, according to the survey, 2009 saw stable revenue and growth, but sharply declining profits in the aerospace and defence industry.

Boeing regained its number one ranking as rising sales of its commercial and military aircraft coincided with declines in both areas for its European rivals.

Boeing delivered 481 aircraft in 2009, which was a steep increase from the 375 that it delivered in 2008 and its defence, space and security division generated some $10bn more revenue than EADS’ equivalent businesses, the survey says.

In 2008, foreign direct investment by the top 50 global aerospace and defence companies climbed to a record. While the search for low-cost manufacturing remains an important motivation, research and development investments have increased significantly, including the hiring of talent in engineering and other critical areas.

Total sales for the Top 100 in 2009 were $558 billion, with North American companies accounting for 63 percent of this - $352 billion - and 49 percent of the Top 100 companies by number.

European companies make up 38 percent of the Top 100 by number and brought in $177 billion worth of sales. The rest of the world is still considerably behind these two regions with combined sales of only $29 billion, representing only five percent of the total, the survey states.